Rock climbing is very popular in Yangshuo. Because of its Karst landforms Yangshuo is considered the Holy Land for rock climbers. There are lots of steep, unique cliffs which make for thousands of possible routes for rock climbing.
There are several simple routes open for tourists:
1. Moon Hill (The earliest, most attractive and distinguishing route.
2. The Thousand-year-old Banyan Tree Park (Closer than Moon Hill, the route is via the west side of The Thousand-year-old Banyan Tree Park.
3. Copper Door Hill (Situated on the bank of Yulong River.)
4. Thumb Peak (Situated in the middle of Gold Cat Cave and Big Banyan Tree, 5 kilometers away from Yangshuo.
5. Gold Cat Cave (Closely linked by road,4 kilometers away from Yangshuo. There are five rock climbing routes that are fixed with bolts. Good for juniors.
6. The rock climbing route which is near the Butterfly Spring is the most challenging one.
Maps are available for sale all over Yangshuo with good bike routes. You could also hire a local guide for the day to take you around or if you have a good sense of direction, you can just get on a bike and head out in any direction and discover the area on your own. Here are some great bike rides that are available to you.
1. To Moon Hill the ‘local way’. This is one of the original routes and it is very popular. You head out towards Moon hill on the main road but soon you divert off on to a local path and set off through small villages, rice paddies and orchards. There are some very scenic spots along the way, but because of its popularity, there are now many locals trying to sell postcards, drinks or just to pose for a photo for you at a small cost. Eventually you go back onto the main road and to Moon Hill, with the option of stopping at the big Banyan tree. Rating 4 out of 5. Click here to see more details of Moon Hill.
2. To Moon Hill the ‘new local way’. Due to the popularity of the original ride, travellers have started taking this new route to Moon Hill. The advantages of this route is that there almost no people trying to sell you postcards or overcrowding of bicycles. The scenery is also stunning. To go this way you need to set off in the direction of Guilin and then take the local road towards Baisha. Eventually you come to a junction where to go to Baisha you would head right and to go to Moon Hill you would need to go straight ahead. Along the way you will also go past small villages including the old town of Long Tang with its old houses before reaching Moon Hill. Rating 4 out of 5. This ride is a bit longer than the original but worth it.
3. To Baisha to see the ancient bridge over the Yu Long river. The start of this route is the same as the previous ride. This ride is very straight forward. The highlights are that you ride along side the Yu Long river which is very picturesque. Once you arrive at the ancient bridge you have the option of taking a ride on a bamboo raft but at 240 Yuan it is a bit expensive. Rating 4 out of 5. Click here to see more details of Yulong River .
4. To the market town of Fuli. Another quiet bike ride. This is a circular trip. You head out on the dirt roads through the countryside and then cross the Li river on a small ferry and you end up in Fuli. On arrival in Fuli, you can leave your bicycles at The 3 sister’s cafe for free and then you can walk around the old part of town or you can go off to the market to see what produce is available. Rating 4 out of 5.
5. To Puyi. Great for those who really want to spend some time on the saddle. Puyi is lovely town and definitely worth the effort. Rating 4 out of 5.
6. Go wandering. Just get on a bike and head out in any direction. If you don’t want to be with the other tourists then all you need to do is have a map and you should have a great day out.
7. Tough rides. There are some challenging rides around Yangshuo. Go along some of the smallest paths that seem to scale the hills around here or take in a much longer journey which can extend to several days. It is all here for you.
Minutes before dawn, Dan and I are drenched in sweat and standing on top of Yangshuo’s smallest peak.
I look at the city below us, wrapped in rising blue mist from the famous river it borders.
Wait. That’s a little too misty, or are my eyes blurring from all that cheap local beer we drank just a few hours before?
No, it’s my glasses, which, like my camera lens are completely fogged over from the shock of going from our beautifully air-conditioned hotel room to the muggy mid-summer weather. The heat I generated by walking up the hill didn’t help, either.
Even now, before sunrise, Dan and I have pearls of sweat trickling down through the coating of bug repellent and under our T-shirts. The short but steep climb up to this crag in the city park has us huffing for breath. I think forward to our plan for the day–relaxing on a raft going down the river–and I mentally pat us on the back for planning something that doesn’t require too much movement or too many layers of clothes.
Yangshuo sunriseWiping off our lenses, Dan and I perch on the edge of the small cement pagoda at the top of this crag. We’re about 25 stories up, it seems, as we look out over Yangshuo town, but our small peak is dwarfed many times over by the dark giants to our left, right, and rear. We face the valley where the town lies and the banks of the river to watch the town wake up: first the streetlights switch off and cars begin to move.
As the sun struggles to rise above the mountains on the east, we take pictures and enjoy the beginning of another day by the Li river.
This taste of travel by water was so enjoyable we planned to take a bamboo raft all the way down Yulong river to Yangshuo, as something we had read said that was possible. We started to ask around in the village though, and after being followed for an hour by a lady who wanted to sell us a trip in the wrong direction, we decided to take a minibus back to Yangshuo and spend our last two days there.
Yangshuo, a vacation town
Yangshuo itself is unremarkable as a Chinese city. I’d say it ranks with Prague’s Staromestke Namesti and Key West for the level of touristy-ness. Anyone who wants to see China and goes to Yangshuo is beautifully deceived. That’s not to say it’s not a fun place to stop. The scenery is gorgeous, the services were top-notch and we found happy hours at restaurants all over town. It’s just not a Chinese city, that’s all.
Happy hours
At our one happy hour (which lasted several) we met some Canadians who had just come up from Vietnam. We drank some with them and then went to the local food market to eat some barbecued meat, vegetables and try out a dried rat a cook chopped up and fried with hot peppers for us. Delicious.
Rat on a stick
After so much fun it was hard to get up for the sunrise, but we were determined to maximize what we did on our short trip.
Immediately following our sweaty sunrise, we caught a quick Western breakfast a West Street cafe and met a guide at Uncle Sam’s Travel–fitting, I thought, since it was the Fourth of July.
Bamboo rafting ride
Dan and I were headed for the mother of all bamboo rafting rides, the longest one that money could buy, or that we could find, we’re not sure. We were in for 5 hours on the river, under a small umbrella and propelled by a very wiry man.
The guide put us on a minibus to a place called Dragon Bridge, where we were met by a young man on a white motor scooter. Dan and I both squeezed on the back of his scooter, and the three of us bumped along down an unpaved road to a dock layered with bamboo rafts.
A sun-burnt boatman with a wide-brimmed hat situated us and our plastic bags full of beer and water on two deck chairs mounted to a flimsy-looking raft. Minutes later we were off, floating down the utterly quiet river, the boatman poling us through the shallows, over a carpet of hairy algae and through the most impressive scenery I’ve seen in China. The raft was more buoyant than I thought, with water coming through the cracks to our feet only once in awhile.
Dan on the raft. Every several hundred yards we’d come to a short weir in which case our boatman would try to launch us over the fastest-running section. Usually, this worked and the raft slid over with only a little bit of laughter from us because we were sprayed with water. A lot of times, though, we got stuck and Dan had to get off and push us along with the boatman.
Most of the weirs were small enough that the bump of going over the waterfall wasn’t much worse than riding a jerky elevator. But once we got to the part of the river that was more populated, with larger rafts moored in the middle selling beer and barbecued foods, the weirs got taller and taller.
We were going over a particularly busy and high one when our boatman misjudged the current and the raft started to go over sideways. The whole raft tipped toward me. Dan and the boatman started flinging their weight to the upward side. I tried to steady my drink. I was sure that all of us, our open beer cans, our cameras and our passports were all going for an unwanted swim in the river. Meanwhile, the other rafters and the people selling goods along the river started cheering and snapping photos.
Somehow, we ended right-side-up only minus a few water bottles we’d been keeping under our chairs. We bought an in-action photo from a business in the middle of the river, who printed and laminated it for us right away.
That afternoon, while our boatman said goodbye to us (probably happy he didn’t have to push our fat Western rear-ends over weirs anymore) we felt dazed. Hours of sun and beer and too many things to look at had worn us out. We made our way back to Yangshuo town to have one last draft beer and some Western food before going to catch our plane back to Guangzhou.
More about rafting on Yulong River, Yangshuo
We arrived here in Yangshuo (near Guillin, Guangxi Province) yesterday morning after a night train ride from Yichang. As seems to be our group’s custom, we arrived in the driving rain, but the weather has since dried up (it’s very hot and humid). Yangshuo has experienced loads of rain in the last few weeks, and there’s been quite serious flooding all around. So we consider ourselves very lucky to have dry weather today.
This area boasts some of the most enchanting scenery we have ever seen, with emerald-green, pointy hills – called limestone karsts – being the predominant feature. They rise up all around the small town and in the surrounding farmland of rice paddies and vegetable patches. It’s the China of picture books – lush green as far as the eye can see, dotted with rustic mud huts, farmers in wide brimmed straw hats working the fields or leading their water buffalo along small paths. And all framed by the jagged karsts.
Cycling around Yangshuo
Yesterday we explored the little town itself. This is backpacker central – loads of dreadlocked white kids who look like they just got stuck here, and plenty of Aussie bars offering pizzas, burgers and other ‘Western’ dishes. Despite the un-Chineseness of it all, the place is very quaint and well kept.
Eight of us took a cooking lesson yesterday afternoon at a cooking school on a farm outside town -very rustic. The style of cooking is very different from the Sichuan we cooked at our lesson in Chengdu – here’s it’s light stirfries with lots of homegrown veggies and oyster sauce… yum yum. And of course we got to scoff all five dishes as well.
Today we explored the surrounding countryside by bike – a leisurely way to take in the amazing hilly scenery and get a feel for the rural way of life. All of us girls were in bikinis (our tour leader insisted on swimwear in case it rains, and so she could get some cool photos of her mad group!) and along the way we were given wreaths of wildflowers to wear on our heads – so we were quite a spectacle, much to the delight and amusement of the locals!
Eating after cooking class – yum!
We broke off for lunch at a farmstead – a wonderful banquet of fresh veggies and beer fish (barbel/catfish caught in the river, cooked in beer.) Got back to town at 3pm this afternoon. In an hour or so we’re going down to the river for a spot of cormorant fishing – a local practice which involves fishing with the aid of tethered cormorants, their necks ringed so that they do not swallow their whole catch. Should be interesting but maybe a little cruel? We’ll see and report back in the next blog!
Cormorant fishing on the Li River
Went out on the Li River at about 8pm yesterday evening to watch the cormorant fishing. We both found it very interesting, even though I have my reservations about the (ab)use of the poor birds. However, it was a fascinating insight into a practice which local fishermen probably relied on in the past to make a living. The river was flowing very strongly indeed – effectively still flooding – so we’re pleased the boat trip went out at all.
A small boat took about 12 of us a little up the Li river and over to the opposite shore, where an old man with a bamboo raft and six birds was waiting. Our motorised vessel cruised alongside his raft as he poled his way upstream, hugging the river bank. With nudges and the occasional shove, he encouraged the birds, perched on the raft, into the water. They would swim alongside and dive occasionally (again ‘encouraged’ with the use of an oar). The birds are not tied to the raft, but the secret seems to be the use of two gas lanterns – they don’t seem to like straying far from the light.
Once a bird has made a catch (two of them did, and quite large fish at that), the fisherman plucks it from the water and pulls the fish from its throat. A thin cord is tied around the bird’s neck to prevent it from swallowing large fish (it is still able to eat small fry to stay alive!).
We puttered alongside the raft and birds for an hour or so before going ashore for a photo session – see piccies attached!
Caves with underground streams
This morning six of us went caving – there are many water caves in the area (caves with underground streams) and a few of them are open to the public. Access to this particular cave was by rowing boat – we were all given heavy torches and hard hats, and hopped into the boats wering our bathing suits. Within minutes we left the bright sunshine and were whisked into a dark watery world full of stalagmites, stalagtites and other rock formations. Our guide pointed out recognizable shapes – a toad, a fairy – after we’d left the boat and started walking through the cave on foot.
Yangshuo caving experience
A few of us, brave enough to feel the cold for a change, took a lovely swim in clear blue spring water in a natural pool formed by the accumulation of minerals. We walked on a little and reached the highlight of any Yangshuo caving experience – the mud baths! Got nice and dirty, scrubbed ourselves and slid down a muddy bumslide. Yuck but soooo gratifying!
Train to Hong Kong
We have a little time to kill before boarding our bus and train to Hong Kong, so we’re taking the opportunity to update you on the cormorant fishing and today’s activities, as well as add some pictures. The camera is playing along again now, so we’ve uploaded some snaps.
From Guilin it was a two hour bus ride to a small town called Longsheng. This is not a tourist town, there is no reason to come here other than using it as an access point to the famous Longsheng rice terraces. It has a population of about 170,000. The city is a colourful mixture of Dong, Zhuang, Yao and Miao ethnic groups. There are not a lot of choices for accommodation and certainly not much in the way of places to eat.
We stayed at a hotel we found for 200 yuan a night. This was pricey for a town like this, but we couldn’t seem to find anything else. There was little to no English spoken here, so getting help was out of the question. We couldn’t seem to find the places recommended in the Lonely Planet. We think we may have found one, but it was a complete dive. Our room was on the 4th floor of our hotel. They had done a renovation, but it was like they updated from the 60′s to maybe an early 80′s style. It was a huge suite and with a good view of the busy streets of town below. The outer wall of the room was curved and had 6 large windows.
We set out to try and find something to eat. We really tried to have an open mind here while seeking food options, but there was nothing for us. We could not find anything that came close to what we would call a restaurant. All we saw was small hole in the wall places with a few plastic chairs and tables that had bubbling pots of soup with meat and unidentifiable stuff on sticks. There was something that resembled a restaurant back at our hotel so we went back as it was our only option.
The restaurant was a strange set up. It was a big open floor area, kind of dingy looking. It was cram packed with big round wooden tables and chairs. They were so close together you could barely walk around the room. Off of this room were many small private dining rooms. It was about 6pm and we were the only ones there. We looked over the menu, there was not a lot of options. Everything had meat in it. We were going to have to try and get creative with our order. This was going to be difficult considering no one spoke any English. We pulled out our survival Chinese pocket book. We pointed to fried rice with vegetables and then to mixed fried vegetables. The waitress nodded and seemed to understand. Then we had to get up to the nearby cooler and point out our drinks.
The rice showed up and was fine, it had egg in it, which we eat so that was okay. It didn’t have any vegetables, oh well. The plate of mixed vegetables was interesting. It was green leafy stuff with stems, sort of resembling spinach. That’s all we got on the plate, no other vegetables. It was in some kind of watery and oily like liquid and had been cooked to death. We’re pretty sure the rice had MSG or something in it, as we both talked about intense and vivid dreams the next morning.
The night proved to be an event. There was a storm in the distance, we could see the flashes of lightening. It wasn’t too long before the power went out. Unfortunately with it also goes the air conditioning. It was quite warm for sleeping. The power ended up going off and on many times in the night. The air conditioning will not automatically come back on, so we would have to get up and turn it on each time. We had no way of knowing when the power was back on so we left a light on. The whole night ended up being repeat episodes of getting all sweaty, passing out, waking up to the light coming on, getting up and turning the air con back on, and repeat.
At about 6am we got another rude awakening. Some idiot was out driving in the streets below with a mega phone yapping at full volume about who knows what. They went around the block several times. At first we thought there was some kind of emergency and they were going around yelling at everyone to evacuate. After all at home this is the only viable reason we could see someone coming around with a mega phone at this awful time of the morning!
We decided we would only stay one night here. Basically go see the rice terraces and head straight back to Guilin. Otherwise we would starve! Even the poor food choices of Guilin were looking good by this time. In the morning we decided it would be much too difficult to ask if we could store our bags at the hotel while we went to the rice terraces. Taking them with us was not an option either. Our solution was to just pay for another night for the room. The bags would be safe that way. Another 200 yuan was not a lot for piece of mind that our stuff would be there when we got back.
At 7am we went back to the bus station to catch a local bus out to the rice terraces. It was about an hour bus ride to the town of Ping’an and cost us $1 Canadian. It was pretty funny and typical when the bus left the station. It stopped not even 50 meters down the road. We sat there for about 10 minutes while people sauntered over and boarded the bus. Several times people came and threw a bag or a box on and handed a few yuan to the ticket lady on board.
A big styrofoam box with the lid taped down and a large sack were two items placed up in front of us. We looked at them with curiosity. The rest of the trip we referred to them as the mystery box and bag. Finally we were moving again. The bus only made a few other stops along the way to let some people off. About half way through the trip Jack pointed out that steam was coming from the styrofoam container. Of course our imaginations were running wild about what was in it. A while after this the top of the sack started to make movements as if something was kicking inside. We think it may have been a chicken. Why it was still for most of the trip and just started to move now, we don’t know.
The bus started to climb as we got closer to Ping’an. There were lots of switchback curves. The bus stops at a parking area and then there is a long hike up ahead to get to the terraces. Ping’an is an 600 year old village. It is a Zhoung minority village. The rice terraces are positioned on peaks as high as 1100 meters.
This area is also referred to as the Dragon backbone rice terraces. Each season produces different looks to the terraces. All of them give unique photo opportunities, whether the terraces are filled with water, covered in snow or green with crops. The climb up was long and strenuous on sets of random sized stone steps. We arrived at the first set of terraces and we were immediately impressed. The far distance views were covered in mist and fog at this time, but the views were still stunning nonetheless.
There are two main viewing areas for these sets of rice terraces. You can also walk to the next village of Longji. You could see the village in the distance. We started to make our way to Longji on the skinny trail carved in the side of the steep slope, but soon gave up the expedition. The trail was really muddy and very hard to cross in many places. Plus we kept having to cling into the cliff side to let people go past with large baskets on their backs. Then it got worse, men with their cows would come to pass by us. Of course these people made walking the trail look so easy.
We made our way to view spot number 2. By this time the mist was clearing making the views magnificent. The terraces are literally works of art. Workers dotted the terraces in some spots, while other times we saw a man coax his cow to pull a metal tiller through the soil. Our guide book said the trails to the various viewing spots were well marked. We did not find this the case. Several times we were not sure if we were going the right way. We had also heard stories of other travelers losing their way in the terraces. When they asked for directions to get back to the village they would get pointed to go uphill from one person and then downhill from another.
Along the trails we got to pass through areas with small groups of dwellings. Some of them had been turned into restaurants and guest houses. There were old men sitting on porches smoking pipes and little old ladies carrying baskets along the paths. We came across a crying kitten outside of a house. It couldn’t have been more than few weeks old. It was kind of muddy and just sitting on a sloped area. The mom was no where in site. We went inside and found a young girl. We motioned for her to come out and follow us. We pointed the kitten to her. She could understand a little bit of English. We asked if the mom was nearby and if she would come back for it. She said maybe and we realized that was about as far as the conversation would go. She picked it up, took a look at it and put it back down. It’s hard for us to accept that the kitten will just be left to die if the mom doesn’t come back.
We came across another area for viewing. There were a set of terraces as well a large group of buildings nestled into the hillsides. This area had a lot of Chinese tourists that had come in buses. We were the only foreigners here and ended up being more of an attraction then the terraces! One man approached Jack. He wanted Jack to pose with his wife for a photograph. Jack said no and then the man said oh, sorry and seemed to now realize how weird of a request it was. Again Jack came to my rescue and while I snapped photos of the great view, he shielded my with the umbrella to stop the numerous people trying to photograph me.
One of the attractions of this area are the Yao women. They have hair that goes down to the ground. They wear it twisted and tied up with a cloth in a shape like a basin. They have turned their hair into a profitable business. They know people like to take pictures of it and will collect a fee for doing so. For a couple of yuan they will unwind their hair for you as you snap photos. You get to see it hang down to the ground and then watch the procedure of it getting wound back up and tied with a cloth. They have some of the longest recorded hair in the world.
We came across one of these ladies while making our way along the trail from view point 2 to viewpoint 1. We agreed to pay her for some photos. Soon after another lady joined her. They continued to follow us along the trail. We motioned for them to go past us and carry on, but they insisted on staying with us. They kept saying number 1, number 1, over and over. This was the view point they were talking about. We continued along the trail and stopped many times to take photos of the terraces. The views just kept getting more impressive as we made our way along.
It started to rain quite badly. We put on our ponchos and used our umbrella to shield the camera from getting wet. We finally made it to the top of the mountain we had been seeing in the distance for quite sometime. This was viewpoint number 1. We figured out what the ladies wanted from us. Their village was down over this mountain. They motioned to come with them to get something to eat. We did not have enough time to keep going. By this time we would have to move fast to get back and catch one of the last buses to Longsheng. The ladies were really upset when we started to walk away from them. They kept calling out to us to come to their village.
We made our way back to the bus with just minutes to spare. The ride was uneventful on the way back. No mystery boxes appeared this time. When we got back to our hotel we quickly gathered up our bags from the room and went to the front desk to check out. It was a little confusing for the girls, considering we had payed to stay the night and were now leaving at 4pm. We didn’t expect any money back, but after very puzzled looks, chatting to each other and then looking at the clock, they gave us 50 yuan back. So we basically paid 150 yuan ( about $20 Canadian) for storage of our bags. Jack had noticed the last place we stayed at in Guilin had a charge of $5 per bag. Since we had 4 bags we were at the same price.
We got the 4:30 bus back to Guilin. We were not going to go back to the same place we had all the problems with last time. We checked into the Golden Elephant. It was an okay place, the staff spoke a bit of English. Our room was large and bright. It has a bit of a view over one of the rivers that runs through the town.
We had no time to waste as we wanted to be on a plane to Kunming the next day. We started to check out travel agencies. The main CITS agency recommended in the Lonely Planet was quoting us a price of over 100 yuan more than what we knew the tickets should be. We kept wandering down the street as it was riddled with travel places. The next one we came across also said CITS. This is supposed to be an official China agency that is registered with the government.
This place had just a small desk with a phone. A girl sat behind it. We asked her to tell us the price for tickets to Kunming. She could barely understand us, but finally got the idea. It ended up that everything we needed to talk about had to be done through someone she would call on the phone. It got way too complicated and we said sorry and walked out. A few doors down we came across another agency with a girl that we could communicate with enough to get the tickets purchased. We used our pocket dictionary a few times and managed to complete the task. We got all the details out of the way and then she told us to wait. About 10 minutes later a guy on a bicycle showed up with our tickets in hand. We aren’t sure, but we have a hunch he came from the original CITS place that quoted us the higher price. It is probably the main agency where they print out all the tickets.
So next stop Kunming. An hour and 10 minute flight for 830 yuan each, instead of a 22 hour train ride to save a few bucks. That suits us just fine!
We wandered around XingPing’s sunbaked streets taking pictures of the mountains and houses and spraying bug repellent at anything that flew near us.
Boating in XingPing
The day before also found us hunting a sunrise, this time in XingPing village, a small town about a half-hour minibus ride from Yangshuo.
Heralded as one of the most beautiful places to take in the karst-formation scenery along the Li River and a short way from the famous mountain cluster immortalized on the Chinese 20-yuan banknote, XingPing was a fun stop for us.
XingPing Bridge
We seemed to be the only foreign tourists in town, and definitely the only ones who wanted to take an early morning boat ride. In a few minutes conversation in choppy Mandarin by the XingPing riverbank, Dan and I organized a sunrise tour with a crazy-haired riverboat pilot.
The town showed all the signs of tourism, but none of the tourists. We ate in a restaurant that had an impressive menu of Western foods, but what came to the table, while tasty, was unrecognizable.
XingPing back street
In the morning we took off with our smiley riverboat man . He pleased me immensely by insisting on trying to converse with us in Chinese.
CaptainAt that hour, when the high-rise peaks above us were blue in the twilight, the river was hardly busy. We waved at several unresponsive raft fishermen, who stood on their long, thin rafts pulling net after net. After a time we passed a man walking his water buffalo and calf along the riverbank. The buffalo looked at us wild-eyed and decided we were safe enough to swim beside.
A group of tourists had beat us to a point a little farther upstream, where a cormorant fisherman posed for pictures.
Cormorant
Cormorant fishing is apparently something the region is known for–the fisherman has two trained cormorants with strings around their necks. The birds dive for fish and bring them back. The string on their necks prevents them from swallowing the fish. We hadn’t wanted to shell out for a tour showcasing cormorant fishing but were happy to take free shots with our zooms of the fishermen in their unwieldy woven costumes.
Meanwhile the sun made its way up the mountains and turned our once-indigo hills into giant sentries of green jutting into the blue sky. A multicolored hot air balloon floated overhead, and we were in bliss with our private boat and own captain.
We headed to the Seven Star Park or Qixing Gongyuan. Just beautiful. It seems Guilin is bringing out the tourist in me. It does seem some of the more popular places are worth a visit. This park was just beautiful. Zoo was both horrible and not so bad at the same time. Tiny cages, cement floors for some, but others like me, had fluffy pillow type accommodation.
Maybe they know somebody too.
I loved walking along the hill trails and visiting the tombs. Such beautiful views of Guilin and the limestone Karst peaks. Heaps of grass and shade too which was welcomed by the three of us. Ponds here and there with ducks and other watery things. Monkeys roaming around (without chains!). Another cave with not so many tacky lights but worth a look. A beautiful temple that I’m assured is hundreds of years old (like the old city in Leijing?). Is it a new old Temple or an old new Temple? HHHhhhmmm, one has to wonder.
There were shiny golden statues with prayer cushions before them, incense burning everywhere, but strangely I didn’t get asked for money like everywhere else that has shiny golden statues and places to rest your knees. Like last time I was here, I’m sure I’ll get to the point that as soon as I smell incense I’ll be running the other way.
Travelled with my mum and spent a total of 4 nights in Yangshuo at the Li River Retreat which was just great.
Luckily for us we had missed the floods. We did have heavy rains the first night and day but we were not to be deterred. Had organised for Lilly Lu to meet us the first morning and take a day trip with her and Mr Tang. Because of the flooding and raging river conditions our day was a little modified.
We drove out to the Dragon Bridge and took a short walk here, what I really enjoyed though was just looking around and walking through the local village. The rustic architecture and the age of the buildings made for some great photos. We stopped at a local market and had a good look around then ate lunch at a small local restaurant in Xingping. Great lunch- garlic, pork and green bean stir fry, salted chilli fish and egg fried rice, washed down with chinese tea. We then took a boat from Xingping to Yangti, it was about 2.5 hrs and even though it rained continuously how could you not love it?! Our waterproof ponchos and umbrellas were very handy.
From here we drove to the Silver Cave- seriously huge, very impressive and onto Moon Hill. We made it just before the cloud descended so have the photos. Unfortunately the climb was out of the question due to the rain and cloud- next time! Our Sound and Light Show was cancelled and had not run for about a week- another next time!
We ate at Li River Resort (LRR)that night and really enjoyed it, they do a great menu, huge serves. I only wish we could have worked through more of the menu.
The next day was fine!!!!! Spent the morning browsing the stalls and shops and took a little bus around the town. It is quite a fascinating place. Lunched at a bookshop café- all good. The afternoon we took the Yangshuo Cooking School class, we met our guide at the Buffalo Bar then walked to pick up some other tourists who would be joining us. From there we walked to the local markets and had a good look around, lots of colour and activity. We were shown the area where the dogs are butchered and told we could go have a low key look if we wanted. Got some great photos of the vegetables, herbs, spices and cooked foods.
I have written a separate report on the Cooking School but basically it was a real highlight. The operation is very slick, very clean and you make some delicious food in the middle of the countryside. We did various dumplings, greens, chicken and cashew and beer fish- what a feast. Really enjoyed spending time with the group, eating our produce and having a good chat. Highly recommended. We were dropped back in the town and walked back to the LRR. Saw fireflys on the way home- this was exciting as we don’t have them where live.
Lilly and Mr Tang picked us up the next day (pouring rain again), we had organised to go to the Longji Rice Terraces. We decided that we would still go and cross our fingers that the rain might lift. Stopped at a tea plantation on the way and had a little tour there followed by a tea tasting ceremony. The weather report hadn’t improved but we soldiered on, rain, rain, rain…..
We reached the Longji Rice Terraces after 3.5 hrs, bought our tickets and walked up to the village and low and behold after ? an hour the cloud completely lifted and the sun came out. It is the most stunning place, breathtaking and IMHO as awesome as Macchu Picchu. We took a trek through the terraces, about 6km in all. We ended back up at the village for a really late lunch. This was had at the Countryside Inn (I think that is the name).
Lunch was great fresh Chinese food- eggplant, a beef curry, seasonal stir fried vegetables and rice. Had a look at the rooms for future reference- I loved them and would like to spend at least a couple of nights there in the future. The room I liked was a double with great view and a private bathroom- shower, basin, squat toilet. It was only Y100/night in the off season. The others were more basic with shared bathroom.
Lilly said that there are great walks to be taken to surrounding villages from Longji Rice Terraces. Worth investigating for sure. We then took the 3.5 hour drive back to LRR. In retrospect we should have stayed there overnight and driven to the airport the next morning as it would have been a way better use of time- and we would have gotten to spend the night up there, but I put it down to experience.
Our time in Yangshuo finished with an early flight from Guilin the next morning. It was a really great stay and has whetted my appetite for a return trip. I would probably visit in April or October next time and spend at least a week as there is so much to do. Would definitely recommend Lilly Lu and Mr Tang.
From Ben
Yangshuo
Yangshuo is a very nice beautiful town, far less pressured and Tourist orientated than Hong Kong (a few hours in Hong Kong was enough for me i think).It is set amongst the picturesque scenery of huge limestone Karsts(basically big mountains). Got a bit of an insight into true rural culture today, courtesy of a wander around Yangshuo park, which was literally packed with groups of men playing what appears to be Mah Jong. I stood out like a sore thumb! Also made a complete tit of myself trying to be clever and use my phrasebook to ask how much something was, yet didn’t realise that i wouldn’t understand the answer, so had to show her what i was trying to ask as i had no idea what she said! Oh well.
Li River
Just got back from a tour of the Li river which was spectacular, saw several of the Karsts that are actually on the back of some of the national currency (oooh i hear you say!), including the nine horses and some others whose names i forgot. Also got my picture taken with some comerant, which for the uneducated are birds that have been trained to catch fish, yet have had their throats tied up so that once they catch the fish they cannot swallow them, and the fisherman just takes them from the bird. Honestly, we humans are lazy bastards aren’t we, now were even getting bids to do our bidding!
Day one
It was pretty uneventful as i was late leaving the airport on day one so missed my briefing and my meal, basically i got to Hong Kong and went to bed, though I’m still jet lagged so had very little sleep. The next morning i did get to have about two hours just wandering the streets, including the infamous Nathan road, looking for some electronic bargains, however i found myself saying ‘coulda got that cheaper on ebay!’ what a sad state of affairs. Had my first Chinese meal, porridge and noodles, however the porridge is slightly different from what I’m used to, with raw fish in it! Rather tasty though.
Boat cruise
My fellow travelers are all very nice, and all much older too, I’m the only ‘child of the 80′s’ here! They are Gis, Pear(?) Simon and Sarah. My guide is called Dragon Chang, what a legend name! He’s also very friendly and knowledgeable.
Day two
It was pretty much a bus to Guangzhou then lunch then a 13hr overnight train to Guilin, from where we got another Bus here (Yangshuo). Got to use a squat toilet though! Fun.